From left to right: Zac Efron, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya. Photos courtesy of Flickr and Wikimedia, respectively.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
The Greatest Showman is a drama/romance movie based on the true stories and imagination of Phineas Taylor Barnum also known as P.T Barnum, who was an American showman. The cast includes Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, Keala Settle, Sam Humphrey, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
The movie was released on December 20, 2017 with Michael Gracey as the director. 95 percent of google users liked this movie and was also nominated for categories in the Golden Globes such as Best Actor and Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
P.T Barnum was born on July 5, 1810 in Bethel, Connecticut. In his earlier life, he worked for local newspapers and other small business. At the age of 19, he married Charity Hallett and later started a family of their own. Barnum became known for his work when he started displaying odd attractions like “The Feejee Mermaid” and “General Tom Thumb”.
The movie features a spectacular cast with an amazing soundtrack with hit songs like This Is Me and Rewrite The Stars. The film begins with Barnum in a circus scene behind bleachers singing in the dark. Young Barnum (Ellis Rubin) and Charity Hallett (Skylar Dunn) develop a young love. Years later, as they grow up, their love develops but Charity’s father disapproves. They eventually run off and start a life of their own and have two kids. After being laid off from work, Barnum finds a way to earn money to help raise his family and invests in a museum of wax figures.
After seeing no money and sales coming in, he bumps into 22 year old Tom Thumb (General Tom Thumb) and gets inspired to start a museum of “freaks” to show how talented they were in their own special ways. He later recruits Lettie Lutz (the bearded women, played by Keala Settle), the Siamese twins, Prince Constantine (The Tattooed Man, played by Shannon Holtzapffel ), JoJo (the dog-faced boy, played by Luciano Acuna Jr.), W.D and Anne Wheeler (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Zendaya ), and many more people. To start up the exhibition, Barnum tries to partner up with Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron) as his protege and use his money to keep the circus going. The circus becomes a huge hit but also receives backlash from some of the villagers who think they do not belong. Barnum later recruits Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson) a talented Swedish opera singer, and goes on tour with Barnum to earn her reputation as the Swedish Nightingale.
The movie not only has an amazing appeal to it with its production and enthusiasm. It talks about racism and how people with differences should be embraced. It is a great movie that also teaches a lot about diverse topics.
